Dear Erik: We are seniors (aged 76 and 77) on a limited income. Our cost of living is high due to health reasons. We therefore carefully plan restaurant visits.
Although we do not and have never frequented very expensive restaurants, we do enjoy several in the $$ or occasionally $$$ range.
We all know prices have skyrocketed, but when you add the “recommended” 10 to 15 percent tip, dining out becomes unaffordable.
On the other hand, many restaurants struggle to keep customers and stay open! So what’s the better choice: tip less, or just not die and support these restaurants at all?
– Dilemma of dining
Dear Dining: I sympathize with your concerns. Rising food and overhead costs trickle down to the menu, making dining out a more complicated business, especially at a time when household budgets are shrinking. This makes accounting difficult.
However, the best solution is to indulge yourself and not treat the service staff at the same time. Consider your tip part of the cost of the meal and budget accordingly. This may mean your total meal allowance drops by 15 or 20 percent (industry standard), which may translate to one less appetizer, one less drink, etc.
Tipping is a custom in America that has been built into the financial structure of the restaurant industry, meaning that even though it is not required, not tipping means that someone is working for you for free.
Many diners complain that it’s not something they chose, and if they wanted servers to guarantee an income, they should have chosen a different profession. What these diners don’t realize is that by choosing to go to a serviced restaurant to tip, they are choosing to be part of this financial arrangement. If they didn’t want to, they would go to a buffet or a restaurant without staff or – in my opinion the most ideal – a restaurant that pays its staff a living wage and includes labor costs in the prices.
Most servers are paid in installments of $2.83 per hour. Most of the time, taxes eat it up completely, meaning that every time a server approaches your table, brings you food, explains the menu, makes a recommendation, makes you a cappuccino, or clears your plate, it’s free. Ditto for bartenders who are tipped over by servers and bussers. You deserve a nice night out, but they also deserve to pay their bills. You can create a budget to accommodate both.
Send inquiries to R. Eric Thomas at eric@askingeric.com or PO Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him at Instagram and subscribe to his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.
Leave a Reply